Melons
2022 · 16m · USA
Directed by Matt MacDonald
Genres: comedy, dark comedy, satire
Tones: absurdist, darkly comic, humorous
A jolly but meek grocery store manager learns to stand up for himself after a sexual harassment misunderstanding brands him as public enemy #1. A satirical farce about cancel culture and finding courage when the masses write you off.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Everyone's going to call this a cheap shot at cancel culture, which is exactly why it works—MacDonald's actually got the guts to make the meek guy the hero while the mob stays ridiculous, and he does it in a produce aisle, which is the most beautifully stupid setting for a moral reckoning I've seen all year.
The formal control here is surgical: the escalating absurdity of the mise-en-scène mirrors the spiraling logic of public shaming, and the editing rhythm knows exactly when to cut to faces in the crowd to puncture the farce with something genuinely uncomfortable.
What makes this sing is the choice to play the manager's silence as strength rather than weakness—that restraint in the performance, how MacDonald lets him *not* grandstand even as the world demands it, transforms what could've been a sitcom premise into something with actual spine.
Reviews
An interesting and funny satire of cancel culture with a strong lead performance from Brian Huskey.
Clever yet absurd humour that works well in this short but excellent format.
Festivals
- Cleveland International Film Festival 2022
- HollyShorts Film Festival 2022
- Heartland International Film Festival 2022
- DC Shorts Film Festival 2022
- Newport Beach Film Festival 2022
- Pasadena International Film Festival 2022
- San Diego International ShortsFest 2022
- Indy Shorts International Film Festival 2022